A cold goodbye

So I went out early to get my last run in New York this winter done. It is cold out there 18 F ( -8C) and with the wind it feels like 3F (-16C), but this is how New York sending me of to Europe, where I am told it is warmer. So over the next few weeks I hope I will get some nice runs in and hopefully get a chance to tell you about them, so stay tuned out there.

Solo

My usual Sunday morning running partner Utpal had a minor medical procedure yesterday, so didn't feel well enough to come for a long run this morning. So I was on my own. You can see from the photo that there was quite a lot of snow out in Flushing Meadow Park, but it was sunny and so nice. I had to be a bit careful at times because of the snow and ice, but it was a lot of fun.
I ran 12+ miles stopping from time to time to take some photo's. This one actually shows part of the course that is used for the 6 & 10 day races that takes part here in April.. I am quite happy with the way my training has gone the last 6 weeks, especially the last 3 weeks when I have increased my mileage.
I am leaving for Western and Central Europe in a few days and hope to maintain my running while traveling a lot. It's not always easy, but if I can squeeze in some kind of run everyday it really helps.

50 Days

When I go on these running streaks I have certain benchmarks I like to reach. the first one was of course the 28 day mark, which to me is the first month. yesterday was my 50th straight day of running and this is my second mark. For me I like to think that 50 days means that this is a seroius running streak I have going here.
After 2 weeks of increasing my mileage I felt tired when I went out for my run on Monday, so this week I am just running 3 miles a day on the weekdays. I will probably leave the 2 a days in place on the weekends.

Responding Well

I have increased my mileage for the last 2 weeks, averaging 5 miles a day last week and 6 miles a day this week. When I start to get in the groove, where I run and how far I run becomes instinctive. I have noticed for the last couple of days that my breathing has been very good. Which was a little surprising because I had been exhibiting cold symptoms earlier in the week.
This morning was the usual 2 mile race and I noticed that my legs felt quite tired after the first mile, but that they felt fine for the last 1/2 mile and my breathing was good . This allowed me to push a little at the end.

When I went out for my second run this afternoon the idea was to run an easy 3 miles, but as I came to my turning point I just kept going and eventually ran 5 miles instead.. It feels as though my body is getting used to the increase in training miles and is responding well.

Snow Run

On Tuesday I came home from work and there was about 1/2 " of snow on the ground and it was still snowing lightly. It was the first time this year that I had got to run in the snow, the last time was in December. The snow itself was nice and crispy. I got inspired and ran 5 miles.
On Wednesday it was raining, not too bad. Though it had rained heavily earlier in the day. I went out with the intention of doing 5 miles again but changed it into a 5 k. I did however run into Utpal who encouraged me to do more and we were joined by Sudip, so all 3 of us ran 5 miles.
Today the afternoon was quite mild, so once again I was inspired to run 5 miles, this time on my own. though my legs felt a little tired at the start I felt good at the end.

Cold Day

It was really cold in New York today. Early on it was 12 F, but by the time I went out for my run it was up to 22 F. There was a blue clear sky and bright sunshine, so it was actually quite pleasant. Somehow it kind of reminded me of some of the days I would run cross country in school in England.
Maybe because of the cold I felt no soreness in my legs after the 14+ miles I ran yesterday. I just remember enjoying the crispness of the air and at the end feeling it was time for lunch.

Good week

I decided to increase my training a little this week, it's nothing fantastic but it all helps. So at the moment I am running 5k a day. On Thursday with the help of my friend Utpal I ran 6 miles almost 10k. Since I usually plan to run the 2 mile race on Saturday morning, I only run an easy 2 miles on Friday.
I woke up on Saturday morning with a bit of a thick head, after waking in the night with a sore throat. So I wasn't too optimistic. I was however quite pleasantly surprised when I ran a time of 15:30, which is my fastest time this year. In the afternoon I went out and ran another 3 miles, though I must admit my legs were a little tired.
And so to Sunday morning.As you can see from the photo we ran out to Shea Stadium, it was pretty much a repeat of last weeks run, but we added a little more by running by the Zoo in Flushing Meadow Park. Running for about 2 1/2 hours. Then of course I topped it off by going out again this afternoon for another 3 miles.
My total for the week was 35 miles, an average of 5 miles a day. Though not spectacular it is a good base for me to build on this early in the year.

This Weekend

Last summer when I was training for the 24 hour race in Drummondville I would run twice a day on weekends. For a few weeks now I have been thinking to start that again. Yesterday I ran our local 2 mile race in the morning, in 15:51. Then in the afternoon I went out again and did another 2 mile run.
This morning I ran all the way out to Shea Stadium, through flushing Meadow, a run of around
11 miles. I hope to go out for a short run this afternoon.
I found that this type of running really prepares you for late in a race when you are starting to get tired. My experience has been that the endurance training seems to kick in.